ENGLISH VOCABULARY
THANKSGIVING
Vocabulary relating to Thanksgiving traditions and celebrations, for learners of English.
In the United States, the fourth Thursday in November is called Thanksgiving Day.
On this day Americans give thanks for the good things they have had in the past year.
Thanksgiving is another name for the Harvest Festival traditionally held in Great Britain to mark
the end of the local harvest season. This tradition was taken to North America by early settlers
who celebrated the first American Thanksgiving in 1621.
Most people celebrate Thanksgiving by gathering with family or friends for a holiday feast,
usually with turkey as the centerpiece.
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Autumn | Season between summer and winter called the "fall" in the US. |
| Bounty | Abundance; yield of a crop. |
| Corn | Grain plant, also called 'maize'. |
| Cornucopia | A symbol of abundance consisting of a goat's horn overflowing with flowers, fruit, and corn. |
| Cranberry | Small red berry used for making sauce and jelly. |
| Crop | A cultivated plant that is grown on a large scale, especially a cereal, fruit, or vegetable, that is collected at harvest time and referred to as a crop. |
| Feast | A big meal to celebrate something. |
| Harvest | The cutting and gathering of grain and other crops. |
| Mayflower | Name of ship on which the Pilgrims sailed. There were 102 people on the ship including crew members. |
| Pie | Fruit or meat cooked in pastry. |
| Pilgrim | A person who travels a long distance for religious purposes. |
| Pilgrims | Name given to the English Puritans who went to America in 1620 because of religious differences with the Church of England. They traveled on a ship called the Mayflower. |
| Pumpkin | Large round orange-coloured fruit. |
| Puritans | Group of English protestants who wanted simpler forms of church ceremony and greater strictness in religious discipline. |
| Plymouth | Port in England from which the Mayflower set sail. |
| Settlers | People who go to live in a new developing country. |
| Thanksgiving | Expressing gratitude. |
| Turkey | Large bird traditionally eaten at Thanksgiving (and also at Christmas). |
| Wampanoag people | Native American people in North America who helped the Pilgrims and taught them how to plant corn, hunt, and fish in the new land. |